Nowadays, everyone knows what a smart phone is and how it works – well, mostly. The range of its applications in life is so wide that it is impossible to ignore it. This has caused people to spend more and more time using their phones every day, and it has gone up to the point that some people cannot even live without looking at their phones every thirty minutes.
Phone addiction has become a problem in modern societies. Simply speaking, as long as you have an urge to engage in an activity, you are addicted to it. Most people are, in fact, addicted to their phones. This probably started because, at least in the beginning, we needed them.
Now however, most of the time we spend on them is not because we need them, it is because we are addicted. I mean, look out there: people walk while looking at their phones instead of where they are going – and that is why most of us are still single anyway – and use their phones for the simplest stuff – I was calculating 2*2 with my phone’s calculator the other day instead of actually using my brain, or what is left of it anyway. All this time we spend on (or maybe with?) our phones has forged us a special, inseparable, and intimate bond between the two of us, or the three or four, considering that some people have multiple smart phones – there should be a law about that, it is not right to have two phones at the same time, that is cheating. I personally love spending my before-going-to-sleep time – is that even possible to limit it to that? Last time I checked I spent half my sleep time as well – on my phone which my girlfriend does not like one bit, or she would not have liked it if I had one anyway. Even children nowadays work with smart phones – and I bet they know how to handle them much better than you and I. It is as if we cannot live without them, without taking a look at them every two minutes, without feeling their warmth in our pocket or without their noises.
Although there are different activities for which we use our phones, the solutions are quite similar: try limiting the time you spend on your phone to certain times of day and no more than a certain duration. Always remember, this is a war in which self-control and perseverance are of utmost importance – sorry, I just wanted to sound cool. Now, some people are addicted to social media. You know, there are many different ones out there. I will need a whole book to name every one and what it does, but for now, you should only know that for such addiction, there is no cure – I mean scientists are working on it, but there have been no results so far. There are some ways that can help you on your way to earn your freedom. Any activity that you might like, such as sports, playing games with friends, watching shows…, can help you by distracting you from your phone and filling up your schedule.
In summary, there is a phone addiction problem in modern societies, in which different kinds of addiction can be found, for which, different solution can be employed. Remember, whatever you do, make sure you are enjoying yourself: after all, you only live once.
Written by: Alireza Saeidi
